Thanksgiving Fun

Today is a good day. Why, you ask? Well, LifeasMOM has a FREE Thanksgiving Fun printable today. It's full of fun recipes, crafts and other Thanksgiving activites for the kiddos. It's part of Fishmama's A Simpler Season series. If you haven't checked it out yet, be sure to do so. There will be free downloads each week from now until New Year's.

Personally, I LOVE the idea of this Thanksgiving printable. A few years ago, we spent Thanksgiving with my husband's family. He has a rather large family (just like I do), so I planned ahead and got some activities together for the kids to do. They got to make Turkey Apple Placeholders (a tradition that I started with my girls) and play some fun printable activities. My niece and nephew both loved it. It was a simple thing to do, but it made them feel special and remembered on a day when so much of our focus is getting a good meal on the table in a timely fashion. This printable really makes it easy to be that rockstar mom, or auntie as the case may be.

What fun thanksgiving things do you plan at your house?

March is here!

Where or where did January and February go? March is already here. I'm trying not to freak out...there is so much I want to accomplish before our possible move for law school. Although we don't have any plans set in stone and may very well continue to stay where we are, the possibility of a move weighs on my mind. I gotta get in gear! Anyway...

With the beginning of March comes a new monthly wall calendar for our house! Last night I had Lucie and Ella get to work on their masterpieces for our latest calendar.

Lucie still has a ways to go in terms of confidence in drawing. She still wants my help to draw anything. We managed a simple rainbow together.

And Ella?  She divided her page into four scenes each depicting something about St. Patrick's Day. The rainbow with the pot of gold and the pot of gold and leprechaun are self-explanatory. The other two represent memories from last year's St. Patrick's Day. In the top right, she drew her preschool teacher walking into the classroom to discover that "leprechauns" had caused some mischief and overturned chairs while the class had been at recess. In the bottom right, she drew the potted plant where a "leprechaun" hid some "Leprechaun Chowder" for the girls. Her creativity -- and memory -- makes me smile. Her drawing also reminds me how much fun it was to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in silly and simple ways last year. I hope to do it again this year.

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If you're interested in making your own calendar, I've made a free printable 2011 Wall Calendar available.

Download Instructions: Since I'm using the free hosting at MediaFire, once you click through to MediaFire, you will see "Life with Lucie and Ella - Wall Calendar 2011" and a box that says "Click here to start download." When you click to start the download, a dialog box will pop up and ask if you want to open or save it to your computer. Make your selection, and it will be done in a jiffy. When you open the PDF, you can change the page view so you can see an entire month at at time. Click on VIEW and then PAGE DISPLAY and then TWO-UP CONTINUOUS. Printing and assembly instructions are included in the download. Enjoy!

February Calendar

Happy February! It's hard to believe that January has come and gone, but indeed it has. That means it is time for a new wall calendar!

Last night the girls and I sat down to make our new calendar. Lucie once again requested help from me. She wanted to draw heart after heart after heart. And every time we drew one side of the heart together, she'd exclaim, "It looks like a candy cane!" Then we'd complete the heart, and she'd say, "And now some dots!" as she filled in most of the hearts with dots. Although she still wanted my help, she has come a LONG way in drawing. Just a few months ago, she wouldn't do any drawing or coloring without my hand on the marker or crayon.

Ella worked diligently on her own. She decided to draw some hearts, flowers and a "big ball of February." I'm still not sure what that means, but she had fun drawing it. She took some creative license and even added a candy cane to represent December. Perhaps she was inspired by her little sister's exclamations.

Having a calendar up on the wall has been great for our family. I look forward to it because it is a fun activity to do together that is also practical. It helps us keep track of all of our activties and be just a bit more organized. The girls look forward to making it every month and displaying their other art around it.

If you're interested in making your own calendar, I've made a free printable 2011 Wall Calendar available.

Download Instructions: Since I'm using the free hosting at MediaFire, once you click through to MediaFire, you will see "Life with Lucie and Ella - Wall Calendar 2011" and a box that says "Click here to start download." When you click to start the download, a dialog box will pop up and ask if you want to open or save it to your computer. Make your selection, and it will be done in a jiffy. When you open the PDF, you can change the page view so you can see an entire month at at time. Click on VIEW and then PAGE DISPLAY and then TWO-UP CONTINUOUS. Printing and assembly instructions are included in the download. Enjoy!

Fun & Free 2011 Wall Calendar

Last month, you might recall that I shared an idea for making a Christmas 2010 calendar with your kids. The idea originated from one of the mentors at my local MOPS group. My girls LOVED creating it, and we ended up hanging it on the door in our kitchen that leads to the garage. Throughout the month, we hung up some of their other holiday art projects around it. It made for some festive decor that was practical too. Plus, Ella really loved seeing what was coming up on our schedule.

Usually, I rely on a desk calendar of my own making to keep track of my appointments. However, now that Ella is learning how to read calendars in school, I thought it would be fun to keep the wall calendar going on all year long. So, the other night, I sat down at the computer to put together another large wall calendar. I printed it on 4 sheets of paper, trimmed some edges and glued/taped it together. The girls were more than happy to draw something to represent January on their own sheet of paper. When their masterpieces were finished, I glued/taped them to the top. Since they were both born in January, they decided to go with a birthday theme for their creations.

As usual, Lucie wanted to draw a PINK Birthday Cake. She actually surprised me and drew the outline of the cake on her own. Of course, she did request my help for adding the decorations.

Ella drew pictures of herself with cupcakes, presents and a number 6 candle.

Right now, I am LOVING this new monthly tradition, and I think my girls do too. Since not everyone has the computer software or skills to design their own calendars, I decided to share mine with you. Just click on the link below to get the free PDF.

Click to download the free 2011 Wall Calendar.


Download Instructions: Since I'm using the free hosting at MediaFire, once you click through to MediaFire, you will see "Life with Lucie and Ella - Wall Calendar 2011" and a box that says "Click here to start download." When you click to start the download, a dialog box will pop up and ask if you want to open or save it to your computer. Make your selection, and it will be done in a jiffy. When you open the PDF, you can change the page view so you can see an entire month at at time. Click on VIEW and then PAGE DISPLAY and then TWO-UP CONTINUOUS. Printing and assembly instructions are included in the download. Enjoy!